Marauders: Light Up The Night
by NoxScribe
Summary: James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are starting their fifth year at Hogwarts. At this important time in their lives, they must deal with the struggles of their teenage years, family and friends. And all the time, the threat from the outside world gets stronger, and the Marauders must search inside their hearts to choose their path in the coming conflict.
1. 1: Gotta get back to Hogwarts

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are starting their fifth year at Hogwarts. At this important time in their lives, they must deal with the struggles of their teenage years, family and friends. And all the time, the threat from the outside world gets stronger, and the Marauders must search inside their hearts to choose their path in the coming conflict.

 **Chapter one**

Sirius breathed an audible sigh of relief as he stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, leaving his parents – and with them all his troubles – behind on the platform. He hadn't been out much all summer, forbidden by his family to leave the house. Sirius had never been one for obeying orders, but disobedience in the Black family was about as advisable as paddling in a lava flow. His hand still hurt from the latest punishment inflicted on him by Kreacher, but a few healing spells and some Skele-Gro had sorted it so that the injury was no longer visible.

But none of that mattered now, he thought, as he loosened his tie so far that it was almost level with his navel, and adjusted his grip on his precious Nimbus 301. He'd be at Hogwarts in a few hours, and right now he was going to see the three people who meant more to him than anything in the world.

Sirius opened the compartment door to a scene of chaos.

The other Marauders must have been in there for five minutes, tops, but already the table was strewn with sweet wrappers, and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans had been tipped over, scattering the contents everywhere. Several Qudditch magazines were spread out in front of James, although he wasn't reading any of them, and was instead trying to wrestle a chocolate bar away from Peter. Remus was sat opposite them, reading a book with his feet on the seat next to him and pretending to ignore the pandemonium, although they all knew he loved it really and Sirius suspected the werewolf had been the cause of most of the mess.

They all looked up and froze when they realised Sirius was standing in the doorway. James released Peter from a headlock and stood up to pull Sirius into a brotherly hug. "Good to see you, mate," he said, as he clapped Sirius on the back.

"You too," said Sirius, releasing James. "Lucky I came in when I did, Pete's purple in the face," he laughed.

"Not my doing," James protested, "he's been eating those Chameleon Candies again. He was silver a minute ago."

"Ah, typical Pete," Sirius reached across to ruffle the boy's curly blond locks. Peter was treated as the baby of the group, despite being the same age as all of the other Marauders. He never seemed to mind, though, and grinned at Sirius.

Remus had never been big on human contact, but he squeezed Sirius' outstretched hand as he moved his feet off the seat to let his friend sit down. Sirius just managed to refrain from wincing as he realised that he'd held out his injured hand. But he didn't mind the small pain, because it was Remus, and Remus was one of the Marauders.

"So, fifth year, lads," James leant back in his seat, running a hand through his already messy dark hair. "What do you guys think, finally my year to be Seeker?"

"Yeah, maybe," Sirius answered. "And Snivellus might stop dipping his hair in grease every morning," he cackled. When Sirius laughed, his smile grew so wide that it looked like his face would split in half, and his usually guarded expression lit up like a firework.

"Oh, shut up," James threw a bean which looked to be snot-flavoured at him. "I mean it, I've got a good feeling about this year. The winds of change are blowing at our old castle. I'm thinking by Christmas, Evans will be ready to go to the dance with me." He paused as the others sniggered. "I saw her on the platform this morning, and _she didn't hex me_!"

"Shocking," Remus muttered, drawing his eyes away from Sirius' joy-filled face. "I'm not sure if you guys got the memo, but we have our OWLs this year. You know, those exams that will determine whether you two can become Aurors or not." Remus' hair had grown out a little over the summer, and was now pulled back into a small ponytail, which might have looked silly on anyone else but it suited him.

"We know, Remus, we've just got more important things to worry about," Sirius joked. "You know, like which prank we're going to pull on old Slughorn next week."

"Are you guys really thinking about Quidditch and exams right now?" moaned Peter, who hated both things with a passion. Then his face brightened. "What about the spell, do you suppose we can get it working this year?"

"Keep it down, Pete!" James warned, alarmed.

"Relax, James, nobody can hear us from outside. And we can definitely complete the transformation soon. We've been working on it since second year; we've got most of the main components already. All that's left really is the actual transformation," said Sirius.

"You guys are mad," Remus shook his head, but he couldn't help smiling.

"Nothing mad about looking out for our mate," said James, his features lit with a heart-warming resolve.

"Yeah, we can't stand it when you're all alone at the full moon. We want to be there for you." The unusual show of concern from Sirius was a pleasant surprise, since he normally refrained from showing his emotions much, even to the Marauders.

"I hope I can do it," Peter muttered, his round face a little worried now. "I really want to be with Moony when he transforms, but the Animagus spell's so difficult. I'll work as hard as I can though," he added, determination creeping into his voice.

"Too right you will," James grinned. "And we'll give you all the help you need, so you'll have it nailed in no time," he put an arm around the smaller boy.

Remus looked around the compartment at the bright, dedicated faces of his friends, and thought that he must be the luckiest werewolf in the world, and he could never ask for a group of better friends. Not that he would ever dream of telling them something so sappy.

Suddenly, Peter's ears pricked up. "Is that the sweet trolley?" He asked, excitedly.

James laughed at his friend's childlike expression, and again when he glanced at Remus and noticed the werewolf was sniffing the air eagerly. "It is, I smell chocolate," Remus confirmed.

"Well, go on then, you two. We all know you've been waiting for this since we got off the train last year," James told them, and was promptly poked in the eye by Peter's elbow as the small boy pushed past him to exit the compartment.

Sirius, who had received a similar treatment from Remus, said, "ouch, never get between a werewolf and chocolate."

James looked across the table at his friend, his expression uncharacteristically serious. "Now those two are out of the way, can we talk about it?"

"I don't know what you mean," Sirius said, levitating one of the sweet wrappers and deliberately not making eye contact with James.

"Yes, you do. Sirius, we need to talk about your family sometime."

"Fine." Sirius lounged back against the seat, spreading his arms out in a nonchalant position. "Talk away."

"Just… how have things been?" James asked.

 _"_ _You useless blood traitor! A child of mine, friends with mudbloods! This is the last I'll hear of it!" Walburga Black shrieked so loudly as she pointed her wand at her eldest son that Sirius barely heard the severe crack it shot out the curse._

 _But he felt the immeasurable pain on his cheek as the skin split open. This wasn't like a regular cut; it felt like it had been filled with vinegar, and then scratched deeply with sandpaper. Sirius couldn't help but produce the smallest groan of pain, and his mother laughed._

 _"_ _All that time you spend playing the hero with your Gryffindor peers, and you can't even take a punishment when it is due without whimpering like a baby." She moved closer to Sirius, sweeping across the hall so that she was beside him in an instant. "You'll never be like them," she whispered, seething with rage. "No matter how much you pretend. Your rebellion will only result in more punishment. It is pointless. You cannot deny that you have a Black heart."_

"Worse," Sirius admitted, raising a hand to his cheek as if the wound was still fresh. "She's been having a go at me for being friends with muggle-borns, but Merlin only knows how many other things she thinks she's punishing me for as well."

James covered his face with his hands. When he took them away a few seconds later, his eyes were a little redder than normal. "I wish there was something I could do for you. I just want to get you out of there, mate."

"I know," said Sirius.

"What about Regulus?" James asked.

"Well, it's not easy for him, having to watch all of it. I'm almost glad he's so hopelessly obedient of all their insane laws. At least he doesn't get hurt as well."

"I _meant_ doesn't he ever stick up for you? He's your brother, Sirius. After everything you've done for him, you'd think he'd be the one person in your family who would defend you!" James was yelling now, furious.

"It- it's not that simple, James," Sirius told him, and it seemed a struggle for him to get the words out. "Reg used to try and defend me, bless him, even though he couldn't do anything to stop them. He just ended up getting hurt just as badly as me. I convinced him to stop."

James shrugged, his anger subsiding a little. "Just saying, I would stick up for you if I was your brother."

"You are," said Sirius.

The Marauders made jostled their way over to the carriages, just like they did every year, but something unexpected made Peter stop in his tracks.

"What are those… things?" he asked, pointing to strange, ghost-like creatures which were pulling the carriages. They were the same shape as horses, but nothing could have been further from the majestic, docile creatures that Peter ridden when he was younger. These were the spookiest things Peter had ever seen, with grey skin stretched thin over their skeletons, of which each bone was glaringly clear. And their eyes- well, they just didn't have any, simply empty sockets which still seemed to watch the children hungrily as they mingled about, unphased by the beasts standing inches from them. The most spectacular things were the wings. They were like incredibly large bat wings, still with translucent, taut skin.

"What things?" asked James, perplexed.

"Those… they're like horses, only not. I've never seen them before, they weren't here last year, but now…" Peter trailed off, unsure how to combat the looks on his friends' disbelieving faces.

The other Marauders exchanged worried glances for a moment, the Remus put a hand on Peter's shoulder, pulling him towards one of the carriages. "Come on, Pete. We are never letting you have that much sugar again."

Sirius and James laughed, and the tense air around the three of them was gone. But Peter couldn't stop thinking about the ghostly creatures that nobody else could see. Maybe he was losing his mind, he thought. He just hoped their appearance didn't have anything to do with the awful events of the summer.

 **Author's note:**

 **Heya, NoxScribe here!**

 **Thanks for reading this story, I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing it. I love the Marauders and have wanted to write a fanfiction about them for ages. If you want to leave a review, please go ahead. Any feedback is welcome!**

 **Chapter two will be out soon!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the wizarding world, or any of the characters in this story. That all belongs to JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.**


	2. 2: The princess and the slimeball

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

The castle loomed in front of the children like a beacon of hope against they grey, thickly clouded sky. The night was dark, but Hogwarts was aglow with golden light, illuminating every brick and ornament spectacularly.

Peter stared in awe, all thoughts of the monstrous steeds forgotten. "Every year, I'm just amazed by how beautiful this place is," he whispered.

"Just gets better every time," Remus nodded in agreement. "Hey!"

James, who had been bickering about Quidditch with Sirius, didn't look where he was going and knocked into Remus' shoulder. "Sorry, Moony. Won't happen again." He patted the werewolf on the back.

"You said that the last fifty times," Remus rolled his eyes, the corners of his mouth curving up just a little.

James pretended not to have heard him and began to push ahead. "Come on then, we'll miss the feast if we don't get a move on."

They all knew that the feast wouldn't start until after the sorting, so they really had nothing to worry about. Sirius smirked as he passed Remus. "Never get between James and his food."

Remus smiled back but Sirius was already racing to catch up with James. Remus and Peter were left trailing behind as they entered the castle and the crowd began to disperse. The entrance hall was as grand as it had ever been, with bare brick coated in colourful tapestries depicting scenes of wars fought long ago, and well-known alchemists with bubbling potions. Remus recognized several of them, but never would have pointed it out to his friends, who thought he was enough of a nerd as it was.

Students were milling around the entrance of the great hall, still catching up and hugging their friends after long weeks apart over the summer. Through the mass of black robes, Remus noticed a familiar head of red hair. "Lily, over here!" He called.

Lily Evans turned around and her face broke into a smile when she saw Remus. "Hey, Remus. It's so good to see you, it feels like it's been for ever!" She pulled him into a quick one-armed hug and then released him, "and Peter. How are you?"

Peter mumbled something nondescript about being fine, flustered as he always was when he talked to pretty girls.

"Good to see you too, Lily," Remus said quickly, saving Peter from his embarrassment. "How was your summer? I've missed studying with you."

"Aw, me too," Lily was about to continue when two dark-haired figures approached. Remus realised that talking to Lily now maybe hadn't been the best idea, since it had led James directly to her. He wanted his friend to be at school for at least one day before he was cursed to have seaweed for hair.

"Sup, Evans," James sidled up to her, casually leaning against one of the great pillars in what he probably thought was a manly pose.

"Potter. How lovely to see you," said Lily, with obvious contempt.

"Right back at you, babe," James grinned, pretending not to notice her tone.

Sirius leaned close to Remus and Peter. "He called her 'babe'; I'm betting less than ten seconds before he gets hexed." The boys grinned at each other, mischievously.

Sirius may well have been right – Lily certainly looked ready to fire off at least twenty curses – but a figure with a familiar hoked nose and greasy hair emerged from the crowd. "Lily are they bothering you?" Severus Snape asked, eyeing James with scorn.

"They're just larking around, like they always do," Lily shook her head, trying to act nonchalant.

"Bugger off, Snivellus," said James. "Can't you see I'm talking to Evans?"

"I can see you're trying your level best to annoy Lily enough to get yourself hexed. But since she hasn't done so, I could take care of that for you," Snape retorted.

"Oh yeah, Snivelly? Think you can take me on?" James laughed. "How's about it, then? You and me, a duel, now."

"Sounds good to me," Snape's wand was out in a flash, pointing at James' chest.

"Come on, guys," said Remus, desperately. "We only just got here, can't you go one day without trying to kill each other? We're in the middle of a corridor, too."

James looked at his friend for a long moment, then nodded reluctantly and began to lower his wand, but Snape turned to Remus. "Stay out of this, Lupin. It's not any of your business just because you're too much of a wuss to watch a real duel."

"Don't you _dare-_ " Sirius yelled at Snape, and had to be restrained by Remus and Peter.

Things could have very quickly gone south if the Marauders were left to their own devices any longer, but the doors to the Great Hall opened at that moment. Kids of all ages began pouring through, and the Marauders, Snape and Lily were dragged along with the crowd. Snape ducked away to the Slytherin table at the first chance he got, and Lily walked to the opposite end of the Gryffindor one.

"Dammit, I really could have hit things off with Evans if Snivellus hadn't interfered." James moaned as the four of them sat down at the table.

Sirius laughed. "Mate, you wouldn't stand a chance with her if Snivellus moved to Mars."

James put a hand on his heart melodramatically, pretending to be shocked. "How could you say such a thing? You really think any girl would be able to resist my charm if it was up to her?"

Sirius, Remus and Peter looked at each other for a second before bursting into fits of uncontrollable laughter. This time, James laughed along with them, only to be shushed by the headmaster, who was standing at the front of the Hall.

Once the Sorting was over, and the headmaster had given his normal speech stating that the Forbidden Forest was, of course, forbidden, and a corridor on the fifth floor had been sectioned off, and nobody was to go past the barrier under any circumstances, food appeared, piled high on the long tables.

Despite having stuffed themselves with sweets, the Marauders were famished and tucked into their food ravenously. But they all stopped and looked up when they saw an extremely reluctant Lily Evans being dragged towards them by the elbow.

"Alice, do we really have to sit over here?" Lily asked, helplessly as her best friend pulled her over to the bench opposite the Marauders.

The dark-haired girl with a pixie cut grinned. "Of course we do. James may be a prat, but he's still my friend. And you want to catch up with Moony here, don't you?"

"Oh, don't you start with those ridiculous nicknames," Lily sighed as she finally gave in and sat down, grimacing at Remus. He made the same face back, which made Lily laugh.

"Ok, to things. First off, Moony is the only one here who has a ridiculous nickname, so don't go using the plural. And secondly, said ridiculous nickname is not ridiculous. I came up with it," James winked at Lily, who rolled her eyes like that explained everything.

"Hey, Frank! How was your summer, babe?" Alice called to Frank Longbottom, who looked mildly terrified and quickly scooted further along the bench towards a different group of Gryffindors. Alice shrugged, "he'll come around."

Remus looked from Alice to James, shaking his head. "You two are so alike, I swear…"

"Anyways, Lily was telling me about the epic duel for superiority in the corridor earlier. Give me _all_ the details, Jem!" Words exploded out of Alice like bullets from a machine gun.

"Yeah, _Jem_ , tell her all about it," Sirius laughed, which earned him a kick under the table from James. As James' oldest friend, Alice was the only one who could get away with calling him Jem, although he still hated the nickname.

"Sadly, it didn't get that far," James lamented. "But I'm sure Snivellus is glad; if we'd continued, I would have easily beaten him to a pulp."

" _Don't_ call him that." Lily demanded. "And stop picking on Severus all the time. You act like the hero of Gryffindor, but you're just a bully, Potter. Nothing more."

"I am not. There are some people who deserve a little tormenting every once in a while, and Snivellus is right at the top of that list." James leaned back on the bench, looking relaxed, when he realised there wasn't anything behind him and had to grad Sirius' arm to stop himself from falling.

"Besides, he insulted Remus," said Sirius, as if that decided everything. Which, for the Marauders, it did.

"Ok, that was uncalled for," Lily agreed. "But you and James take things too far all the time as well. What has Severus ever done to you to deserve this?"

James looked uncomfortable for a second and exchanged a glance with Sirius, who shook his head subtly. James' expression relaxed. "Well, he was born, for one thing," he said. "And we have to see his repulsive face every day."

"Yeah, I can't stand that abnormally large nose coming into my field of vision when I'm trying to admire the beautiful sights at Hogwarts." Sirius put in.

"And I find his grotesquely greasy hair personally offensive, as someone who cares about hygiene," Remus added.

The Marauders sniggered, but Lily looked furious. "This is _exactly_ what I mean. And Remus, how could you? Severus used to be your friend! Maybe you deserve what he said to you. You never get involved, but behind his back you insult him just like the others."

Remus looked hurt, and Lily bit her lip, seemingly regretting what she'd said, but didn't try to take it back. She'd never insulted Remus before, even playfully. The two of them had been almost as close as the Marauders, ever since first year. Alice looked at her friend, shocked.

"You want to know why he really deserves it?" James was raising his voice now, forgetting for once that he was trying to impress Lily. "Snivellus has always fancied the dark arts, and You-Know-Who has been gathering followers. When it comes down to it, which side do you think that slimy Slytherin will chose?"

Lily looked horrified, like she hadn't expected even James to stoop that low. She turned to him and Sirius. "How dare you! You two are just bullies. And Remus, you're a cruel coward. And you…" Lily glared at Peter, but seemed to have run out of insults and simply yelled, "Urgh!"

The feast wasn't over, and students weren't meant to leave the Great Hall yet, but Lily stood up and strode out of the doors without looking back.

"You've really done it this time, Jem." Alice leant back as she looked at him through her spiky fringe, somehow managing not to fall as James had done earlier.

"I have, haven't I?" James moaned, dropping his head onto his folded arms dramatically. "What am I going to do?"

"I would say confess your undying love to her, but… that hasn't worked out very well in the past." Alice poked James' arm, trying to get him to cheer up. Then she turned to Sirius. "Are you going to tell me what that was about, when Lily asked why Snape deserves it?"

"It's not my secret to tell," he replied. "But we have our reasons for hating Snivellus; things that Lily doesn't know about. And I think people would prefer to keep it that way."

"Does this have anything to do with why Remus isn't friends with him anymore?" Alice's voice was etched with concern now, but Sirius didn't answer.

James seemed to have ignored their exchange and was still wallowing in self-pity. "I didn't mean any of it. Not really."

"Neither did Lily." Sirius put a hand on Remus' arm. "She was just upset, Moony. You know that right?"

Remus shrugged. "I know, but…" Remus trailed off. How could he explain to Sirius that Lily insulting him felt the same as if all of the Marauders turned against him? Would Sirius even understand, or would he be offended that Remus shared the same bond with someone else as he did with the gang of troublemakers?

"You guys know Lily." Peter said, tentatively, worrying that he might upset his friends further if he said the wrong thing. "She's normally kind to everyone, even when they don't deserve it. She'd never truly mean any of those things she said. If she's upset now, it's not because of you guys, you just don't know what other people have going on in their lives. It's probably something else entirely, and she was just venting her frustrations.

And none of it was true, anyway. James and Sirius, you guys aren't just bullies, you're brave and loyal and even when you are mean, it's because you're sticking up for other people. Heaven knows how many times you've got in trouble for defending me, and you should be proud of how brave you are. And Remus, you're brave too. You're the most uncowardly person I know." Peter was relieved to see Remus wince at his bad grammar – at least the werewolf wasn't sad anymore. In fact, all three of them seemed reassured after what Peter had said.

"When did you get so wise, Pete?" Sirius asked, his expression almost returning to its usual graceful smirk. "And please don't say it's because you took Muggle studies. I'm never sitting through another hour of that boring lesson again."

"Cheer up, lads. She'll come around, you know that," Alice grinned at them. "What do you say when we get back to the common room I sneak us in some butterbeer? And later we can test out some of the Zonko's products I snuck in on some Slytherins."

James raised his head, a smile creeping onto his face. "Alice Frost, you are a god among men. Well… goddess, I guess." All of the Marauders chorused their agreement.

"And I think I can get my hands on something stronger than butterbeer," Sirius winked, and was chastised by Remus about the dangers of underage drinking all the way to the kitchens, where he departed from the group, grinning.

"You didn't listen to a word I said, did you?" Remus sighed, when Sirius entered the common room a few minutes later holding several bottles of firewhiskey.

Sirius shrugged. "Listening isn't exactly my strongest skill. Want some?"

Remus shook his head.

Sirius sat down and leant closer to him. "Nothing that Lily or Snape said today was true. You had the guts to stand up to Snivellus and James I the corridor and stop a duel breaking out when none of us would have done. And what you go through every month… I can't even imagine…" Sirius covered his eyes with one hand. He looked like he might be starting to cry, but Sirius had never cried in front of anyone. "And you get through it. Every time. All that, and you're still happy and positive, and you always cheer people up when they're down. You always, make me happy, Moony." Sirius blushed, as if realising he'd said more than he meant to. "What I mean is, you're the bravest person I've ever met. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Remus wanted to say something in return, but Sirius stood up immediately and within seconds was laughing and joking with a large group of Gryffindors like the conversation had never happened.


	3. 3: Bad hair day

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

 **Chapter 3**

"This is going to be great!" James exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Peter looked at his friend, confused. "I didn't know you liked Potions that much, James."

James sighed. "Not the lesson. The _prank!_ "

"Oh," Peter remarked, clapping his hands appreciatively as if that could overrule his earlier ignorance.

The four Marauders were standing outside their Potions classroom with the rest of the class, waiting for Slughorn to arrive. They were trying to keep their voices down in a corner further down the corridor than the others, so the Slytherins they were sharing a class with wouldn't overhear and tell on them.

"I can't wait to see the look on Sluggy's face," said Sirius, as he leant against the stone castle wall with the casual air of someone who didn't give a dam about anything but their own happiness right now. "And I've got a little something up my sleeve that will blow the roof off this place."

"I really hope you don't mean that literally," said Remus.

Sirius just smiled at him with mock innocence.

"Go inside and start set up," Slughorn's voice boomed. The class all jumped and turned to face him. "You'll be making the potion we talked about last lesson. You know what to do." The man entered the room himself, and sat behind his desk with his feet up on a cushioned stool. He generally spent the lessons like this, reading a book with the cover of a Potions textbook, but everybody knew it was really the latest issue of Witch Weekly.

James grinned at his friends as he began setting up his equipment. They were positioned cleverly behind a pillar in the corner, so nobody would see them deviating from the instructions and conducting their own little experiment. Of course, that wasn't where the prank would take place. That would be in the centre of the room, to cause maximum commotion. And, conveniently, the person right in the centre happened to be a certain slimy-haired Slytherin.

"Don't forget the moth's wings," Remus hissed as James began boiling their secret potion.

James chuckled. "As if I'd take advice about Potions from you."

Remus gave him a glare which sent chills down his spine and made him stop laughing immediately. There was only one subject the werewolf was no good at, and he didn't like to be reminded of that.

"Calm down, Moony," Sirius laughed. "Looks like James might be in trouble next full moon."

His voice carried a little more than he meant it to, and the girls on the table in front of him raised their eyebrows. The other Marauders glared at him.

"What are you playing at, mate?" James whispered, furiously. "Are you trying to get Remus killed? What if someone like Snivellus overheard you?"

Sirius' face turned white. He turned to Remus apologetically, but the other boy was staring intently at the potion as if Sirius didn't exist. "I'm sorry," Sirius said. "I just didn't think. You know I'd never do anything to hurt you."

Remus ignored him and said to Peter and James, "I think it's nearly ready."

"Still not taking your advice," said James, but he looked approvingly at the potion and poured a small amount of it into a vial. It smoked profusely when he poured it out, and the liquid was a disturbing purple-black with streaks of neon green floating around.

Peter looked nervous when James handed it to him. "Is it supposed to look like that?"

"Yes, of course. Look at this picture." James showed him the diagram in the textbook proudly.

"That picture's in black and white." Peter looked back at the potion, still alarmed. "Is it supposed to _hiss_ like that?"

"Look, it's all going to be fine." James told him. "This is similar to a hair dye potion, and completely harmless on its own. Ask Sirius if you're still unsure. How do you think he gets his hair so inky black? That can't be natural."

Sirius looked mortally offended. "How dare you. My hair is naturally beautiful, and as black as my soul."

"Ah, now that makes sense," James laughed. "Anyway, it's harmless by itself. It's only when you add it to Snivellus' pumpkin-growth potion that it will really work its magic." James rubbed his hands together in gleeful anticipation.

"Go on, Pete," Remus said to him. "We're counting on you."

Sirius nodded. "Don't mess this up, mate. Not that we think you will."

Peter didn't seem reassured, but he set off slowly across the classroom. His guise was fetching more dragonfly brains, so he passed Severus once and picked up a small handful of brains. As he made his way back across the room, he took a deep breath as he approached Snape's cauldron. Then he heard the "pop" of James causing a small explosion over by their own cauldron. The entire class turned round to see what had happened.

James held up his hands guiltily. "Whoops. All fine now, nothing to see here," he exclaimed, as Peter uncorked the vial and emptied the contents into Snape's cauldron.

As soon as the students turned back around, there was a sudden, loud hissing sound coming from Snape's cauldron, and Peter ducked out of the way as the thing erupted with clouds of black and purple smoke. Children shrieked and ducked for cover, but the smoke began to dissipate quickly. In the commotion, nobody had seen James wave his wand and mutter the incantation which would enhance the potion's work, and make the whole prank succeed.

Snape was left standing there, looking very perplexed, which was a particularly amusing expression considering that his face was now striped with bright red and gold. His normally greasy hair was stiff and stuck in a waterfall-like wave which ran all the way to the floor and spread out around his ankles.

"Severus?" Professor Slughorn looked up from his magazine, not having fully grasped the situation. "Are you alright? What's happened?"

"I- I don't know," Snape stammered, as the students began to collapse into peals of laughter around him.

"Now for the main event," James whispered to Sirius and Remus, as Slughorn made his way over to the table.

The dragonfly brains that Peter was still clutching had begun to emit a large amount of smoke. He looked worriedly across the classroom at James, who nodded, tilting his head only slightly to the left. The meaning would have been indiscernible to anyone else, but Peter had been best friends with James since first year, and could read his every movement perfectly. The small boy threw the brains down on the floor at the professor's feet.

Slughorn didn't seem to notice and stepped heavily on them. He was immediately engulfed in neon pink smoke, which cleared to reveal him no longer bald, but with long, spiky hair of the same colour which stuck up for a meter in the air. He touched the top of his head, and his expression changed very quickly from surprise to confusion to rage and many more.

During the commotion, Sirius had slipped over to that side of the classroom, and discreetly emptied a little firewhisky into Snape's cauldron. He ducked under the table as it erupted again, blasting Snape backwards and leaving the Slytherin coughing as he leant against the table behind him, knocking over several bottles and spilling the contents everywhere. His sparkly face was splattered with patches of black smoke, and his hair was a little singed at the edges.

James was now on the floor, spluttering with laughter. Remus, beside him, was leaning on the table, looking as if he really wished he wasn't enjoying himself so much now as he also laughed at the unfortunate Slytherin.

Slughorn, who had been admiring his reflection in a conical flask and looking as if he might award house points to whoever had given him the funky hairstyle, turned to the Marauders with an expression of incredible rage. "YOU THREE!" he bellowed at James, Peter and Sirius. "DETENTION!"

Later, the Marauders were lounging in the Gryffindor common room, after they'd recounted tales of their latest prank to the entire house.

"I guess I took it a bit far this time," Sirius said, but he didn't look regretful as he leaned against the front of the sofa, his legs stretched out in front of him on the rug.

Remus, who was curled up on the seat next to the one Sirius was in front of, turned to him. "I'll say. Pouring firewhisky into a flammable potion in a room filled with Merlin knows what kind of gas. Someone could have got really hurt."

"But they didn't," Sirius informed him, casually, turning round and smirking.

"I wish you guys had told me what would happen to the dragonfly brains," Peter moaned.

James shrugged. "If we'd told you, would you have gone through with the plan?"

"No…" Peter admitted. He looked down at the carpet and his shoulders started shaking. The other Marauders looked at each other, worried. James was about to start apologising when Peter looked up at them. He was giggling uncontrollably and beaming. "That was hilarious! Absolutely hilarious! It was the most fun I've had in months! Totally worth detention."

"I don't know about that," said Sirius. "Don't you remember? Snivellus is always in the Potions classroom when detention is on, doing extra work like a sad nerd."

James groaned. "So we'll have to be in the same room as him for an hour? I don't think I can do that. Unless, of course, we make it entertaining for ourselves."

Peter and Sirius grinned maliciously, but Remus didn't look impressed. "Look, you three. I know you hate Snape, but… just please don't pick a fight with him. For once."

Sirius looked surprised. "But Remus, he deserves everything he gets. After what he-"

"Enough. Just please don't, Sirius." Remus looked imploringly at him, and Sirius felt himself nodding, although he wasn't sure why.

James turned suddenly and grinned as the common room doors opened. "Hey, there's Evans. I need to go and talk to her."

"Oh Merlin." Peter exclaimed. "I'd better go with him, so this doesn't turn into a bloodbath," he told Remus and Sirius as he left hurriedly in James' wake.

"You would." Remus said suddenly to Sirius as soon as Peter had left.

Sirius turned to him, confused. "I would what?"

"What you said earlier. I didn't want to say it with the others around, but you would hurt me. I know you care about me, and you'd never mean to, but you just don't think. And one day the people you care about will get hurt because of it. Think about that, and think about when you're finally going to grow up." Remus stood up and left the common room without giving Sirius the chance to say a word.

Sirius put his head in his hands. "Care about" didn't seem to cover what he felt for Remus, but he couldn't tell anyone that. He couldn't even tell Remus that he would go to the ends of the Earth to protect him from harm. And he had grown up. He knew more horrors of the world, had experienced more of them, than most adults had. He needed to act like an immature kid. He needed to pretend not to care. It was his only barrier against the despair that threatened to swallow him every day.


	4. 4: Danger in detention

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

 **Chapter 4**

"Hey, Evans," James called. For once, Lily was alone, not even accompanied by Alice as she entered the common room.

When she saw James, her expression immediately became more tired. "Potter. Of course you would be here."

"You can't have the Gryffindor common room without the bravest and most handsome Gryffindor, am I right?" James smirked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Did you forget 'most arrogant'?" She began to walk towards the girl's dormitory, but James moved to stand in front of her.

"Come on, Evans. I bet you weren't expecting for a simple sticking spell to be able to control the area of effect of a potion when it exploded, were you?"

Lily almost smiled at this, and seemed to hate herself for doing so. She turned to James with an unamused expression. "I'll admit, I'm surprised you got it to work. And even more surprised that you were actually listening when I was talking about that last term."

"I always listen to you, Evans," James said, giving her what he must have thought was a charming smile. "Especially when your advice could improve one of our pranks. Keep going like this, and you could end up being a Marauder."

"Not a chance," Lily told him, though she wasn't frowning anymore. "I'll admit that I'm pleased it worked, but I do wish you hadn't tested out my idea on my best friend."

Here was where James would normally make a snide remark about Snape, but he stopped himself. "Speaking of Snivell- Snape, I'm sorry about what I said last week. It was a horrible accusation and I had no right to say that about him, or anyone, for that matter. I just want you to know that it's not my real opinion. I got caught up in the argument and my anger got the better of me. I truly am sorry."

Lily looked taken aback for a second, but then she turned away from him. "Been practicing that in the mirror, have you? And I'd suggest that if you're really sorry, you should apologise to Severus yourself."

When James walked into Slughorn's classroom the next day and saw Snape sitting alone at the back, apology was the last thing on his mind. Just the sight of the slimy-haired Slytherin made his blood boil with rage. He didn't realise that he was reaching for his wand until Sirius held up a hand to stop him. "We promised Moony, remember?" Sirius muttered.

James nodded, and reluctantly took a seat at the front of the room with his friends. Slughorn wasn't in the classroom. During detentions, he always left work for students to do and went off elsewhere.

"Only three of the famous – or I should say infamous – Marauders, what a rare sight," Snape called to them. "Why isn't Lupin with you? Did he not get detention? No, I suppose the true villain behind a dangerous scheme rarely gets caught. He really seems to enjoy letting people he doesn't care about take the blame for his plans, doesn't he?"

They'd been able to ignore Snape up to this point, but now he'd taken it a step too far. The three boys stood up and whirled round simultaneously, their wands pointing at Snape.

"How dare you!

"Remus had nothing to do with the prank! It was all our idea, that's why he's not being punished for it." James yelled.

Snape gave a humourless chuckle. "Don't make me laugh. A prank blasted me halfway across the room and almost made me brake a bone, and you're telling me that Remus wasn't involved? That petty little-"

Before anyone could even blink, Sirius was across the room, his wand pointed at Snape's throat. "One more word, and I'll curse you so much your gigantic nose will fall off. We clear?" He spoke quietly, but his voice was as cold and menacing as winter ice. "The firewhiskey was all my idea, Remus didn't know anything about it. He hates your guts just as much as the rest of us, but he doesn't want to hurt you because of it. You call him petty, yet you insult him behind his back. He hasn't done anything to you in years, you're the one holding a grudge. Remus is more tolerant and good-hearted than you could ever hope to be."

Snape should have looked scared, given the situation. In fact, he probably was terrified. But he smirked. "Why do you defend him so much, Black? You think I don't know your secret?"

Sirius' blood turned to ice as dread filled his veins. What secret? Did Snape know that Remus was a werewolf? No, Sirius already knew what Snape was talking about. It was his secret, something he'd spent years concealing from his family, from everybody. It was the only thing Snape could mean.

"You're a rotten, slimy snake, and you'll die like one," Sirius muttered, holding Snape still by his neck. He was bluffing, mainly just trying to distract Peter and James from thinking about what Snape had said, but Snape looked terrified.

He heard a noise to his left, and knew without looking that James was now standing beside him, his wand also pointed at Snape. "Don't you dare insult my friends. After everything you've done to Remus, you still have the nerve to insult him. He never told us why he used to come back to the dorm with bruises on his arms, or one of his books torn. He's too honourable to grass anyone up, even you. But we knew. Every time, we knew it was you and your gang of Voldemort-worshipping losers." The tip of his wand glowed threateningly.

Sirius felt that the warning had been enough and he nodded to James, who lowered his wand, before releasing his grip on Snape's neck.

At least, he tried to, but Sirius didn't get further than loosening his grip when Snape's scared expression turned into a vicious smirk and the Slytherin ducked, grabbing Sirius' wrist and twisting it. As Sirius recoiled, James raised his wand, but Snape was too quick for him. "Sectumsempra!"

Before anyone even knew what the spell had done to James, Snape turned and fled from the room. Peter feebly fired a small bolt of light, which hit the doorframe a few seconds after Snape had left.

James sank down to the floor, moaning in agony. Sirius turned quickly, despite his injured hand, and he and Peter rushed to their friends' side. One side of James' face was covered in blood from a nasty jagged cut which reached from his eye to his chin.


	5. 5: Hospitals and Howlers

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

 **Chapter 5**

"Next time I see Snivellus, I am going to beat his ass, I swear," James muttered. He was sat on his bed in the hospital wing with the other Marauders. The cut on his face was deep, but it healed quickly with a little help from Madame Pomfrey, and wasn't serious enough for him to stay overnight. Still, she'd insisted he sleep in one of the beds in the wing so that she could keep an eye on him, since she'd never encountered that cutting spell before.

"I'll join you," Remus said, to everyone's surprise. "I still can't believe he did this. It's cruel even for him." Remus looked at Sirius, who had spent the night in immense pain while the wrist that Severus had broken healed. Remus had rushed to the hospital wing to see his friends as soon as he heard about the fight, and spent most of the night perched on the end of Sirius' bed, talking to his friend to distract him from the pain. None of the Marauders had slept at all.

"We shouldn't have let him. He took us by surprise, that's all. We'll get him next time." James resolved.

Peter shuffled his feet from where he was sat in a chair between the two beds. "I'm sorry I didn't do more to help you guys. I should have stopped him from hurting you, or at least got him back for it."

James shook his head, smiling a little. "You tried your best, Pete. That's all we could ever ask for. You really are a great friend." They all knew that Peter was by far the worst with any kind of spells, and he wouldn't even hurt a fly, so he was pretty much useless in combat. None of the other Marauders minded, though.

"How's your wrist?" Remus asked Sirius.

Sirius shrugged. "Healing. Could be worse, I guess."

Remus stretched towards his friend. "Take my hand."

Sirius looked surprised, but he reached out to hold Remus' hand.

"Good," Remus said, moving his hand away after Sirius clasped it gently. "You can still move your fingers."

 _Of course,_ Sirius thought. _Of course he just wanted to check if I could still move my fingers. Why else would he have done that? Remus wouldn't actually want to hold my hand._ Sirius didn't know why, but that thought saddened him a little. He couldn't explain either why his heart was racing, and his head feeling clouded. This was Remus, one of his best friends. They'd known each other for years. So why now did Remus' skin touching his, even for a second, make him feel hot and nervous and flustered? But at the same time, it felt good. It felt… right.

"It's breakfast time. Come on, lads," James jumped up from his bed, seeming suddenly full of energy when he remembered that he should be getting food right now.

Remus shook his head at his friend, smiling fondly. "You'd think he hadn't eaten in a week," he muttered to Peter, as the two of them followed James' rapidly moving figure out of the hospital wing.

"Ah, ah, ah. You're not going anywhere without me seeing your wrist, young man," Madame Pomfrey stopped Sirius as he tried to exit the wing after his friends.

Remus and Peter waited in the doorway, but Sirius said, "you guys go on ahead, I'll catch up."

By the time they got to the Great Hall, Remus and Peter had caught up to James, who was receiving curious glances from other students as they noticed the mark on his face.

"This sucks," James muttered to his friends.

"At least Madame Pomfrey said it won't leave a scar," Remus reminded him.

James nodded. "Yeah, I guess it could be worse. He almost blinded me in one eye." James exaggerated a lot, but this time he was being serious.

However, when Lily walked past and heard his statement, she scoffed. "Well, if it isn't the most over-dramatic Gryffindor ever to grace the corridors of Hogwarts. Severus told me what happened yesterday, and I think blinding would be the least you deserve. You always have to start fights, don't you, James? One day you're going to have to grow up and stop picking on people."

"I don't know what lies Severus told her, but they must be about as far from the truth as the Daily Prophet," James said, as he and the other Marauders sat down at the opposite end of the Gryffindor table to Lily. James couldn't help thinking about the fact that Lily had used his first name when she spoke to him. She hardly ever did that, especially when they were arguing. And her expression, while angry, had also contained a hint of disappointment. Did that mean that Lily expected better of him? That must mean she had some respect for him. At least, she had done until this morning.

"What did she say?" asked Sirius, who appeared out of the crowd to sit next to them.

Remus looked disgusted as he spoke. "She doesn't believe that James was injured at all. She seems to think that Severus didn't do anything awful. She even said that you guys started the fight."

"Well…" Sirius looked at the table, unable to meet Remus' eye.

"What?" Remus asked, shortly. When Sirius didn't answer, he spoke in disbelief. "Sirius, you didn't start it, did you?"

"Not exactly…" It was James who answered, hesitantly. "He- he tried to provoke us."

"He insulted you, what did you expect us to do?" Sirius asked Remus, without thinking.

"What did he say about me?" Remus asked.

"That- that doesn't matter." Sirius said. "The point is that he deserved it, especially after everything he's done to you."

Remus sighed sadly, and looked down at his plate, suddenly not feeling hungry. "So you were after revenge. I should have known. I told you not to start a fight with him, I just want to leave this all in the past, without you three getting involved. Can't you respect that?"

"Remus, I'm sorry," Sirius began. He brushed his fingers against Remus' hand, but Remus moved it away like even Sirius' touch could hurt him. They all turned to the squawking sound coming from the other end of the Great Hall. Hundreds of owls flew into the Hall, carrying the letters. None of the Marauders were expecting any mail, but all conversation of Snape was forgotten as a bright red letter was dropped in front of Sirius.

"Mate, that's a howler," James gasped.

Sirius shrugged. "Probably my dear old mother, reprimanding me for being a Gryffindor again."

"You should open it," Peter said. "Don't want it to explode."

Sirius sighed reluctantly. "Guess you're right. Although an explosion would be preferable to hearing her yell at me again."

All of the Marauders held their breath as Sirius eased the envelope open. Even Remus, who had been furious only seconds before, looked worried.

The sound that came from the Howler was almost inhuman. A shrill, incomprehensible wailing pierced through the air of the large room, and all of the students turned their heads to look. It was the most anguished sound any of them had heard. There were no words, only a shriek which let forth feelings of unfathomable pain and fury and betrayal.

This most definitely was not the voice of Sirius' mother. He knew immediately who it belonged to. Someone just as evil, but who he had never wanted to hurt.

As the shriek went on, he found himself thinking, _I'm so sorry._


	6. 6: Quidditch try-outs

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

 **Chapter 6**

"Hurry up! We'll be late!" James called to the other Marauders as he charged down the stairs to the common room.

Remus rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help feeling happy as he saw his friend's enthusiasm. It was the day of the Gryffindor Quidditch team try-outs, the annual peak of James' permanent state of excitement. At least Sirius also seemed alright. He'd been a bit down since he received the Howler a week earlier. He hadn't told anyone who it was from, and Remus worried. But he was always protective of Sirius, so he told himself it wouldn't be as bad as he feared.

"Where have you been? Come on! We'll be late!" Alice ran to greet them as they entered the common room, only to immediately grab James' wrist and drag him towards the portrait hole.

"Those two do know that try-outs don't start for another four hours, right?" Peter asked Sirius and Remus as they followed their energetic friends.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't think it makes a difference to them." He looked better than he had done for the past week, and grinned as he gripped his broomstick in his left hand, and bat in his right. "I'd better be a beater again this year. There's nothing like hitting a Slytherin in the head with a bludger and pretending it was an accident."

"Sirius." Remus said. "You told me that all of those times _were_ accidents."

"Uh… that's because… they were!" Sirius seemed proud of what he clearly thought was a convincing argument.

Remus sighed, but dropped the subject. "Are you sure you should be playing today? You only broke your wrist a week ago."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You know me, I can get through anything. A broken wrist doesn't matter at all. I barely even felt it." Sirius realised he'd maybe boated a little too much, but he couldn't help trying to impress Remus.

Remus looked dubious, but he followed Sirius to the pitch without mentioning it again.

When try-outs began, Alice was by far the first one ready, and therefore got to try out first. She swung herself onto her broom with all the energy of a lit firework, and rocketed into the sky. She'd been on the team in fourth year, and had won several games for them, so her spot as chaser was pretty much secure, but she still gave the try out everything she had. Alice moved at lightning speed, scored before anyone could even blink. The seventh-years who were in charge of the try-outs were left in stunned silence as she sauntered off the pitch.

"Nice job," James congratulated Alice as she returned to the group, her spiky fringe plastered to her forehead with sweat. "Say, it isn't like Evans to miss one her friends playing Quidditch."

It was true. Lily was normally supportive of her friends, and was always by their sides at important times.

"She wouldn't normally, but she didn't want to be near you," Alice told him. There was a little bit of friction in her tone that was unusual for Alice.

"You're not mad at me too, are you?" James asked, worried.

Alice shook her head. "No. But this thing with Severus is getting out of hand. I'm worried. About all of you."

"We'll be fine," James assured her as he left the group to go for his try-out. "Nobody hurts the Marauders and gets away with it."

"That's what I was afraid of," Alice murmured, so quietly that nobody heard her.

James was just as extravagant on a broom as he was at any other time. He was nimble and agile, but the was power behind his movement. He was the perfect chaser, but had his heart set on being a seeker. When the seventh-years released the Snitch, James' eyes darted around the pitch after it, but he couldn't get close on a broom. Even so, every move ended with a vigorous flourish without him even trying. He found time in the middle of a dive to wink at his friends, and grinned at the crowd the whole way through.

Peter didn't know much about Quidditch, but even he could tell that James was a much better performer than a seeker. Still, from the looks on the faces of the seventh-years, he would certainly be keeping his role as a chaser. Peter glanced around at the crowd and was surprised to see two familiar faces; his little sisters, Paisley and Poppy. Paisley was in third year, and Poppy in second, but the two were rarely seen apart. Right now they were sitting near the front of the stands, huddled together without touching, but their heads were close together as they whispered. Peter had always thought that Poppy looked very similar to him, with fluffy blond curls that looked like the down of a chick and a slightly chubby face. Paisley was much more plain, with a milky pallor and straight blond hair that hung limply around her shoulders.

Both of them were quiet, and normally kept to themselves. So, when they'd come back from the summer and were even more reclusive, nobody thought it was strange.

"So, what did you guys think? Pretty cool, right?" James asked, excitedly, as he joined the others in the stands, snapping Peter out of his reverie.

"Yeah, you were great," Peter assured him, although he had only been half focusing.

Remus didn't even look up from his book. "I'm sure you were spectacular."

Sirius sniggered as James grinned at what he thought was a compliment.

"Something funny, Black?" James asked, is his best McGonagall impression.

"Just your Quidditch skills," he laughed, diving out of the way as James tried to punch him. James tripped over the bench and toppled over it, taking Sirius with him. They both stood up, laughing as they dusted their robes off.

"You two are lunatics," Alice told them.

"That's rich coming from you." James retorted.

"Hey, Pete, aren't those your sisters?" Sirius asked.

Peter turned around and pretended to notice them for the first time. "So they are. I'm not sure why they're here," he said, puzzled.

"Well, let's go and ask them," James ordered, seeing his chance to stick his nose into someone else's business – one of his favourite hobbies.

"Poppy, Paisley, what are you doing here?" Peter asked, as he walked over to stand beside them.

Both girls looked up at him in surprise, as if the last thing they'd expected was for their brother to actually talk to them. Paisley's expression was cold, as it was towards everyone these days. Poppy was more open, and she even smiled at Peter a little, then turned her gaze back to Paisley, "Paisley's _boyfriend_ is trying out," she answered, in a teasing voice.

Paisley turned scarlet, and mumbled something that Peter didn't hear, but she was probably telling Poppy to shut up. Peter wondered if he should go, but saw the others watching him and knew that they were waiting for him to speak to his sisters for a little longer. "Which one's he?" Peter asked.

"The one with the dark hair and freckles. You see him? The one that looks like a snob. Yeah? That's him there. He's called Lawrence Diggory." Poppy spoke quickly, pointing excitedly as she revelled in the opportunity to embarrass her sister more.

"He is not a snob," Paisley protested. She still didn't look at Peter, but at least she'd spoken in his presence.

Peter hadn't spoken to either of them properly in a while. He wasn't sure if they would answer, but he had to check. "Are… are you two ok?" He asked, hesitantly.

Poppy looked down at the floor, the brightness gone from her face. Paisley glanced protectively at her little sister, then turned to Peter for the first time, and said, "we don't want to talk about it."

Peter sighed as he walked away from them, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. He hadn't wanted the conversation to end that early, but when Poppy went quiet, that was it. They had all dealt with the events of the summer in their own ways, and Paisley's was to shut herself away from everyone apart from Poppy. And now this Diggory fellow, it seemed. Maybe things would be different if Peter payed more attention to her. Peter sometimes wished he could spend more time looking after his sisters, but trying to fit in with the Marauders was a full-time job. If he let his concentration drift to anything else, he could easily fall behind and be left trailing in the wake of his three friends.

When he returned to the group, Sirius was picking up his broom, and about to go for his try-out. Nobody seemed to notice Peter's presence.

"Good luck, mate," James said.

"Thank, man," Sirius replied, then he turned to Remus. "Moony, you'd better put that book down and watch me."

"No chance," Remus muttered, still not looking up.

Sirius rolled his eyes and headed down to the pitch. Only then did Remus close his book and rest his gaze on Sirius.

"Playing hard to get, are you?" Alice whispered in his ear.

"I- I don't know what you're talking about." Remus stammered. Sure, he didn't want Sirius to know that he actually quite liked watching him play Quidditch, especially since he hadn't watched any of James' try-out. But that was all, he told himself.

Sirius gripped his bat in one hand, his broom in the other as he headed down to the pitch. The broom had been his favourite possession since he got it. The Nimbus 301 was one of the best brooms money could buy, but that wasn't the only reason he cherished it. He remembered the day he'd been given it, looking at the grinning face of… No, he couldn't think about her. She may have been kind once, but she had changed. The person who had read to him as a child, and taught him his first spells, was just like the rest of them now.

That Howler had proved it, once and for all.

Sirius didn't dart around the pitch like James and Alice had done. He instead moved like a wild dog stalking its prey. His movements were slick and controlled, as he watched the bludgers and hit them with calculated precision. There was strength in his every turn, and sheer power radiated from him as he dived and swerved. He had all the grace of the wind; somehow, even as he used all of his strength, he was still elegant.

He played well for two minutes, then it went wrong.

Sirius hit a bludger with as much force as he could, swinging his bat in a graceful arc. He sent it soaring away, but then he gasped, doubling over on his broom. The bat fell from his right hand as he desperately gripped the broomstick with his left.

Remus stood up, reaching for his wand instinctively, although he knew there was nothing he could do to help. He wished there was. James swung himself onto his broom immediately and shot towards Sirius. He reached his friend just as Sirius slumped forwards on his broom. James caught him, keeping him upright on the broom, and guided him back to the stands when Sirius raised his head again a few seconds later.

Remus, Peter and Alice rushed to them as they landed, and Remus grabbed Sirius' arm without thinking.

"Ah!" Sirius cried out involuntarily as Remus touched his wrist.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Remus said, immediately letting go. "What happened?"

"My wrist," Sirius gasped. "Suddenly I couldn't feel it. I couldn't even tell if I was still holding the bat or not. Then it felt like it was being broken all over again, only ten times worse." He looked to James, waiting for his friend to clarify what had happened next.

"You passed out for a second. It was probably because of the pain," James told him.

Sirius gritted his teeth. He'd never passed out before. Even when he was burnt, when all of the bones in his hand had been broken, he'd been able to bear the pain. He hadn't fainted. He'd always been in control of his pain tolerance.

"It doesn't mean you're weak, you know," Remus said to him, quietly, as if reading his mind.

Sirius shrugged.

"I mean it," insisted Remus. "You were just in pain, it could happen to anyone. You're a strong person, Sirius."

Sirius looked at Remus steadily, then walked away without a word.

Remus mentally kicked himself. _You're a strong person._ It sounded cliched and silly, even to him. He should have said something more meaningful. He wished he'd given his friend more support. He could write pages of essays perfectly, and he'd even written poetry before, but when he was speaking to Sirius, all of the poetic and meaningful words he possessed vanished. He was reduced to boring sentences that meant nothing. He couldn't even think straight.

"Oi! Potter!" One of the seventh-years ran up to the group to catch up with James. "Tell Sirius that we've decided to keep him on as a beater. He's a good player, and we understand that he was injured. He can join the team when he's fit to play again."

Sirius had stormed ahead to the castle. They could see him in the distance, but James didn't run after him. He figured that Sirius would want to be alone right now. Instead, he turned his attention to his other friends.

"What's that, Pete?" he asked, pointing to the letter he'd realised that Peter was reading.

Peter looked startled, as if he hadn't expected anyone to notice. "Just a letter from Paula," he mumbled.

James struggled to remember which one of Peter's sister was called Paula. Probably the older one, in her twenties. At that moment, the two younger ones passed them, James couldn't remember their names. "You really seem to have an endless supply of sisters," James wondered. "Isn't there another one joining Hogwarts next year?"

Peter felt his throat close up. All he could bring himself to say was one word. "No."


	7. 7: Almost Animagi (part 1)

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

 **Chapter 7**

"James! James, wake up! It's today!"

James stirred, but all he did was pull his duvet over his head and roll over so that he was no longer facing Sirius' excited yelling. James was normally a morning person, but he preferred to wake up on his terms. Anyone who tried to wake him early was in danger of having their pants set on fire.

"James come on! Don't you remember?" Sirius insisted. "Wait, no! These trousers were ten galleons!" he yelped as he saw James' hand sneak out from the duvet to reach for his wand.

Half-awake now, James racked his brains for what Sirius might mean. Realisation hit him so hard it was like a brick wall. _Of course_ there was only one thing that could make Sirius this happy this early in the morning.

"What's today?" Remus asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up in his bed. He had only just woken up, and his soft chestnut hair was sticking up in little tufts on his left side and was flattened on his right.

James and Sirius exchanged a glance as they realised he'd heard their conversation.

"Quidditch," James said, quickly.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "We have practice now."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "At seven on a Sunday morning?"

"Yes…" James told him, his poker face slipping into a little uncertainty.

Fortunately, Remus didn't seem to notice, and he just picked up a book. "Have fun, I guess. If that's possible while playing Quidditch," he mumbled, already engrossed in the pages.

Sirius had to bite his tongue to stop himself from sighing with relief. That had been close. Thank goodness James had remembered that the mention of Quidditch would make Remus lose interest in any conversation instantly. "Ah, well. I can see you're a lost cause, Moony. But I'm sure Peter will want to watch us, right, Pete?"

Peter, who was making his way steadily through a pile of chocolate frogs that were stacked on his bed, looked up suddenly. "Hmm. Not really, no." He wasn't really listening to the question. The contents of Paula's letter were swimming round in his head. _We're all hurting right now. Look after the little girls, they need you._

She was right, of course. Being the eldest Pettigrew child at Hogwarts, Peter was generally tasked with looking after his younger sisters. He never saw it as a burden, though; he quite liked looking after people. But since the summer, he'd been avoiding the responsibility that he prized. He resolved to speak to them later that day.

"Oh, come on, Pete. Of course you do," James insisted.

Peter smiled, apologetically. "No thanks. I'm alright here."

James gave up and dragged Peter to the door by the arm. "No, I really think you want to be there." Peter looked stunned, but meekly let James pull him along.

Remus didn't even pay any attention to them. "Sirius," he said, still not looking up, "be careful of your wrist."

"When am I not careful?" Sirius smirked, and he unconsciously reached over to stroke Remus' hair. The silky brown strands looked smooth, and Sirius was surprised to find that they had a slightly coarse texture. His fingers slipped through the locks gently passing over Remus' warm scalp. The sensation was as calming and comforting as everything else about Remus, and Sirius began to think about how perfect his friend was when he realised the other Marauders were all staring at him.

"Uh… your hair was sticking up," Sirius explained, quickly, then he ran out of the door, pushing past James and Peter, and knocking over a few piles of things he didn't pay enough attention to to identify. He was pretty sure that his face was as red as the expelliarmus spell, and he hoped nobody saw.

Luckily, James and Peter were too preoccupied with their impending task to question him about it. At least, James was.

Peter still looked about as confused as a rabbit that had woken up in a sparrow's nest. "I really was fine back there, why did you make me come here? The Quidditch pitch is the other way, you know. We should turn back – are we even going to Quidditch? And you really payed _ten galleons_ for those trousers?"

Sirius slapped his own forehead. "And finally, he gets it! Of course we're not going to Quidditch! If we had practice at seven am, whoever arranged it would be hanging from a gargoyle by their underwear. It's the seventh of October. Don't you remember what it is today?"

Peter shook his head.

"The potion! The potion we need for the Animagus transformation! We've left it for exactly five cycles of the moon, so it's ready. We can drink it now, then we'll be able to transform!" Sirius bounced along the corridor, as if he was being tugged along by a very excitable string. He paused for a moment, as if only just noticing Peter's other comment. "They're really nice trousers, okay?"

Sirius was acting so uncharacteristically positive that James didn't have the heart to remind him that they would need to practice a lot before they were ready. It had been a long time since Sirius had seemed this carefree. He also didn't mention how annoyed Remus would be when he found out. Moony had made it clear in the past that he thought the Animagus transformation was far too risky to attempt just for them to be with him on a full moon, although he appreciated the sentiment of the idea. Remus had no idea that the other Marauders were this close to completing it.

"You guys have been practicing, right? You know, the exercises." Sirius was referring to a series of complicated stretches which would prepare their bodies for the transformation, which they were meant to start several months before drinking the potion.

"I did a bit," Peter hung his head in shame, "but I kept forgetting, and I've had so much work for classes…"

James out a hand on Peter's shoulder as they followed Sirius, who hadn't waited for an answer. "Don't worry. You'll do fine. It's now that we have to start the really hard work."

"Hello, boys," a small voice warbled as they entered the disused girl's bathroom.

"I wish we could have done this somewhere else, maybe somewhere without a creepy, whiny ghost," James muttered, as they entered and saw moaning Myrtle hovering above them. Myrtle always seemed to make a special effort to be nice to James, which normally he liked from girls. It was just that Myrtle's version of nice bordered on obsessive, and was kind of scary.

"Hello, James," she simpered. "Are you going to get changed in here? I promise I won't watch." She giggled.

James remembered that he'd brought his Quidditch robes with his as part of the lie to trick Moony. Now, he dropped them like they were on fire.

"Come over here! It's ready!" Sirius yelled from one of the cubicles. James and Peter hurried to join him.

Inside the cubicle, a makeshift potions lab had been set up. There was even a table, which was covered with empty vials and dried up leaves that the Marauders couldn't be bothered to get rid of last time they were here. In the centre of it all, a large flask sat. Its contents glowed golden, like the softest sunlight in a late summer's evening, but the flask was surrounded by an ominous black aura. Wispy white smoke floated over the top of it, dissipating not even an inch from the liquid.

"It's perfect," Sirius whispered.

James nodded in agreement. The atmosphere in the room had dropped to one of near reverence. "Should we drink it now?"

"I think…" Sirius hesitated. The transformation was dangerous. They'd all known that going into this, but now the reality of it was hitting him. If he was doing this by himself, it would be fine, but James and Peter were doing it too. They could get hurt. It didn't feel right to endanger two of his friends to help another. But Moony…

"It's alright," James put a hand on his shoulder, as if reading his friend's mind. "We all agreed to this. We're doing this for Moony. Whatever happens from now on isn't your fault."

Sirius nodded. "All right, then. Let's do this."

Remus sat curled up on a sofa in the corner of the common room, his nose stuck in a book. He was still too tired to go down for breakfast, but he'd been awoken by Sirius' yelling, and there was no way he would get back to sleep now. He was enjoying the quiet tranquillity of the empty room when the door to the girl's dormitory burst open.

"And so I said, 'You'd better be joking, or your face will look like the backside of a crumple-horned snorkack in a minute'. Oh, hi Remus," Alice waved enthusiastically as she dragged Lily, who looked about as awake as a sleep-deprived zombie, over to the sofas by the fireplace, and continued her rant.

In the middle of a particularly strange anecdote which involved three possums which had been transfigured into pufferfish, a sentient broomstick and several vials of liquid luck, Alice paused suddenly and turned to Remus. "Hey, Remus! Where are James and all that? It's not like you guys to be apart."

Remus glanced up at her in confusion. "They said they went to Quidditch practice," he told her. Alice was on the Quidditch team, too, so how come she didn't know that? Actually, his tired brain finally realised, if they had practice now, wouldn't Alice be with them?

Alice shook her head. "Nope, they won't be there. We have our first practice on Tuesday."

Lily must have noticed Remus' crestfallen look of realisation, because she said, "don't worry about it. Those guys are idiots, they don't deserve you if they're going to lie to you like this."

Remus shook his head. "You're wrong about them, Lils. They're my best friends. There must be a reason." He racked his brains for anything that the others could be doing without him. Something that they wanted to keep from him so badly they'd lied to his face. Something they had to do right away. But also something that made Sirius smile brighter than the sun.

He remembered their conversation on the train.

 _What about the spell, do you suppose we can get it working this year?_

 _We can't stand it when you're all alone at the full moon._

Of course. It seemed obvious now. There was only one thing that could make his friends act like this.

Remus' heart sat still in his chest. _Oh, Merlin._ If they were this eager, then they must have reached something vital. They must be close to finishing it. Remus had researched the Animagus transformation more than anyone, and he knew the dangers it posed. He couldn't let his friends do

that. For him. He wasn't worth it, he knew that.

And if anything went wrong, he'd never forgive himself for letting them do it.

Remus leapt over the top of the sofa and frantically scrambled towards the portrait hole, desperate to get to his friends in time.


	8. 8: Almost Animagi (part 2)

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

 **Chapter 8**

"Who's going first?" Peter asked, meekly. As much as he cared about Remus, the thought of being the first one to take the potion made his stomach turn.

"I'll do it," Sirius said, reaching for the potion. "I want to start working on the transformation as soon as I can."

James shook his head. "No, I will. I was the one who thought of being Animagi in the first place. If anyone's going to take the risk-"

"Then it should be me." Sirius cut him off, his expression more determined than ever. "Remus is-"

"Wait, risk? What risk is there?" Peter yelped.

James and Sirius turned to him, as if only just acknowledging his presence. They glanced at each other, and knew they were thinking the same thing. Peter was always the lab rat for their schemes; the willing scapegoat if they needed one. Only now the stakes were higher. If something was wrong with this potion, whoever drank it could get hurt, they didn't even know all of the potential side effects.

And James sure as Hell wasn't going to let Sirius go through that.

"Oh, nothing, really," James reassured Peter, smiling as calmly as he could through rattling nerves.

Sirius nodded. "Any of us would be able to handle it, even you."

"Maybe you could go first, Peter?" James suggested, turning to his friend.

"Me?" Peter squeaked.

Sirius shrugged. "I guess you could." He glanced at James, taking in the messy hair which he styled so it looked windswept, and the endearing lopsided grin of his best friend. That seemed to decide it for him, and he grinned encouragingly at Peter. "Yeah, go on. You'd be good at it."

"I- I'm really not sure…" Peter trailed off as the other two boys looked away from him.

James leaned back, seeming to give up on the idea. "Well, I don't know who's going to do this. But whoever goes first will definitely be the bravest of us three."

"Maybe even the bravest Gryffindor." Sirius agreed.

"It would be the ultimate display of loyalty." James reasoned.

This made Peter hesitate. He prided himself on his loyalty. And besides, if James and Sirius thought he wasn't really a loyal friend, they might get tired of him. And that would leave him alone, with nobody to protect him from Snape's gang of Slytherins.

"I'll do it." The words left Peter's mouth before he could stop them, and he half wished he could somehow shove them back in there. But James and Sirius were staring, their eyes wide with awe.

"Are you sure?" James gasped. "This really is amazing of you, Peter."

Sirius handed him a vial of the potion, grinning. "Drink up."

Remus dashed through the corridors as fast as he could, but he had no idea where he was going. "Sirius!" He yelled, desperately. "James! Peter!"

 _Think!_ He told himself. _Where would they go? Where's the best place in Hogwarts to brew a potion without anyone finding you?_

His panicked mind raced through all the possible suggestions as he pushed past a herd of startled first-years. Scrolls and wands went flying, but he was too distressed to bother apologising. Maybe a classroom on the fifth-floor corridor they couldn't enter, or Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He didn't even know where to start.

Suddenly, Remus skidded to a halt, cursing himself for being so stupid. The Marauder's Map! They hadn't quite finished it, but it would show the locations of most people at Hogwarts. He just had to hope it would work.

"How do you feel?" James asked, his face full of concern. He knew the potion could be dangerous, and now that Peter had taken it, he began to worry what it might do to his friend.

"I feel… great!" Peter grinned. "This stuff is amazing, you try it!"

The potion was the most delicious thing Peter had ever tasted. If a summer's day could be a taste, he imagined it would be this. But he didn't feel very different, only a little lighter. His jumbled thoughts for once seemed clear. All the mess and uncertainty seemed to slip away from his brain. In fact, everything seemed to be slipping away. It was like a dark cloud was descending over his memories, over his very consciousness. Suddenly, going to speak to his sisters didn't seem so important. Did he even have sisters? Maybe, what were their names? Possum? Partridge? Something like that.

As he watched James drink the potion, Peter doubled over. His whole body felt like if was being dragged to the floor by millions of millstones. He couldn't feel his ankles, now his knees. But he could feel his stomach, and if was in agony. A sharp spike of unrelenting pain whipped through his abdomen and refused to subside. It writhed like a malicious serpent, twisting through his body. His head was lanced with lightning-hot needles, and fire raced through his veins.

"What's happening to him? Sirius, what's happening?" James asked, frantically. He looked wildly around the room, the fear in his eyes the most pronounced it had ever been. Using Peter as a test subject had been a laugh, ever since first year. But James hadn't been prepared for his inept friend to ever get hurt.

"He'll be alright," Sirius reassured his friend, hoping it was true. The Animagus potion was meant to cause pain, but he had no idea how much. No idea if this was normal or if Peter was in genuine distress. If Peter's body wasn't prepared, there was no telling what the potion would do. Sirius urged to rush forward to him, but the worst thing to do at this stage was to interfere.

"What about me?" James' voice got closer to a distressed yell every second. "Sirius, I drank that stuff! Is that going to happen to me?"

"No!" Sirius snapped, without even thinking whether it was true or not. "No, that won't happen to you. It can't. You're stronger than him, and you've been preparing for months." _And you're more like family to me than any of my own blood relatives, I can't watch you writhe in pain like that._

James seemed reassured for a second, and grinned determinedly, then the smile suddenly left his face. He clutched his head, crumpling to his knees. He gasped, clearly trying not to scream, as he arched his back and tilted his head at odd angles. At least his movements seemed more controlled than Peter's. This was more like someone who's body was adapting to be able to change shape, rather than just being hurt.

Sirius watched his friends helplessly. Peter was now lying relatively still, although he was whimpering. He couldn't just sit by and watch them, so he crouched next to Peter. "Hey, Pete," he said, softly. "It's going to be alright. The worst is over. Now we've only got a little bit more to do until we can be with Moony on the full moon."

This caught Peter's attention. He turned to Sirius with almost blank eyes. It was like looking into the eyes of a child. "M… Moony?" He whispered.

"Mm-hm," Sirius confirmed. "You can help him now. You'll like that, won't you?"

Peter still looked to be in pain, but a struggling smile crept onto his face. "I help. Yes. Helpful Peter." He kept his childlike smile as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

After what seemed like an age of running, but couldn't have been more than a few minutes, Remus knew he was close to the bathroom where his friends were. The map didn't yet work with moving staircases, and had led him to several dead ends, but finally he was nearing his goal.

His heightened hearing picked up a scream which sounded like James. Although he'd been running as fast as he thought he could, this gave him an extra burst of desperate energy as he raced to stop his friends.

He bolted towards the door, and hit it face first.

They must have locked it, but it would only take one kick to break the spell.

James had stopped writhing a few seconds ago, and even had turned to Sirius, smiling. "I feel fine now. So awake!" he slurred, before promptly collapsing to the floor. Sirius had smiled fondly, knowing that the potion had worked for James, and his best friend would be fine. He absent-mindedly picked up his own vial of the potion, although he wouldn't drink it until the others woke up.

As a loud crash sounded, and the doors shook from sudden impact, Sirius almost dropped the vial in shock. He reached for his wand, but before he could even touch it, the doors flew open, and Remus Lupin stood in the battered doorway, glaring and panting with his eyes wild.

Remus cast his eyes across the room, and saw that James and Peter were sprawled on the floor, not moving, but his werewolf hearing told him they were breathing. There were two empty vials on the floor, meaning they'd both taken the potion.

"They're fine," Sirius told him. "They'll wake up soon."

Remus turned his head towards his friend and snarled. He didn't want to, but now he was so angry that he was letting the wolf guide his instincts. "They might not have been fine. Do you have _any idea_ how dangerous that potion is? What kind of risk they took?"

"We know, Moony," Sirius consoled him, trying to stop his grating nerves from creeping into his voice, but Remus could sense all of it. "We were all prepared for the risks. You're our best friend, and we'd do anything to help you."

Remus shook his head, sagging against the doorframe, physically and emotionally exhausted. "Not this. I'm not worth it."

Now Sirius was glaring at him. "Yes, you are! You are worth everything. You're the kindest, most compassionate person I know. You always put other people before yourself, without even thinking about it. But I know how much it hurts you to be alone on the full moon, even though you never say it. You'd never say it because you don't want to worry us, just like you never complain about anything else. And when you don't complain, that just makes me want to help you more, because you deserve to be treated with all the love and respect that you give to other people without a second thought. This is us, helping you. This is us, looking out for you in the best way we can think of. Because you don't deserve to be alone. You are worth this."

Remus hadn't been looking at Sirius; he didn't want his friend to see the tears shining in his eyes. After a few seconds, he turned his head slightly to look at Sirius again, and noticed the vial in his hand. He looked into Sirius' eyes, and saw determination as hard as steel. He matched the gaze with his own fear-filled glare. "Don't. You. Dare."

Sirius looked at him, levelly. He raised the vial to his lips, never taking his eyes off Remus.

"Sirius Black, don't you dare drink that potion!" Remus yelled desperately, tears spilling down his face.

Sirius hesitated, but only for a second. He drained the vial.


	9. 9: Secrets

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

 **Chapter 10**

"Ugh…" James groggily opened his heavy eyelids, unable to take in his surroundings at al through his exhaustion. He didn't know what had happened to him, but he felt like he had the world's worst hangover. Perhaps he'd been to the wildest party in the history of Hogwarts last night. Or had hit his head as he heroically saved goal against the Slytherin Quidditch team, proclaiming a noble victory for Gryffindor at the sacrifice of his consciousness.

This considered, the last thing he was expecting to hear when he came to were the words, "James Potter, you are the world's most foolish idiot."

He glanced to the side, and could just make out Remus' outline, and Sirius lying on the floor in front of him. "Moony, what?"

"Well, maybe apart from this one," Remus gestured to Sirius, who seemed to be unconscious.

Then another thought struck James. "Moony... why are we in… the bathroom?" Maybe there had been a wild party last night, after all.

As James' vision cleared, he realised the level-headed Marauder was glaring at him. "The Animagus potion, James. Don't you remember?" Remus' normally gentle voice was laced with bitterness. "The three of you took the potion, without telling me, you _lied_ to me. What happened to the Marauders? We never keep secrets from each other."

"We did this for you, Moony. And besides, you keep loads of secrets," James slurred.

"I didn't want you to. There was too much of a risk." Remus muttered.

"It was worth it."

"Will everybody _stop saying that_?" Remus complained, though the sentiment warmed his heart. Then the blood in his veins froze. "Wait- what secrets? I don't- I haven't… James, what do you mean?"

But James had tilted his head back and was peacefully watching the ceiling. Remus knew that his friend was no longer paying attention to him. He sighed in frustration and looked back down at Sirius, whose head was resting on his knee. He gently stroked Sirius' jet-black hair, which curled around the boy's strong jaw, framing his face beautifully. Remus smiled, and knew that if anyone saw his smile right now, one of his many secrets would be out. He'd never wanted to keep anything from his friends, but he couldn't help thinking that Sirius was the most handsome person he'd ever seen. And he knew that the Marauders would never look at him in the same way if they knew what he was thinking.

Peter was sitting up, but he hadn't said a word. He leant his back against a toilet basin, and stared straight ahead, his eyes occasionally darting around the room without focussing. The Animagus potion could badly affect people who were more unstable, occasionally driving them into madness. Remus didn't believe this would happen to Peter, but he still worried that it might change his friend. Peter had always been weak-willed and easily manipulated, but Remus wasn't sure if that made him more vulnerable to the potion. He wasn't sure of anything anymore.

"Remus? You ok?"

He heard Sirius' tired voice, and it snapped him out of his thoughts. The Marauders hardly every called him Remus. It was always Moony, ever since James had thought of the nickname in second year. He realised that tears of despair had started to fill his eyes, and he blinked them away quickly. "Yeah," he whispered, looking at his friend. He clasped Sirius' hand, relieved. "I'm glad you're awake."

Sirius grinned as he squeezed Remus' hand back, propping himself up on one elbow. "Me too. How are the others?"

Remus gestured around the room. "They'll be alright. You all will." He felt his will strengthen like steel, as he promised himself that he would ensure this.

Sirius nodded. "I'll be alright once I've had breakfast. I'm famished."

James stirred. "Did someone say breakfast?"

Even Peter looked over expectantly, and made a squeak like a rat expecting cheese.

Remus smiled to himself. Everything seemed normal, he'd been an idiot for thinking that the potion would change his friends.

It was, in fact, dinner time before the Marauders made it to the Great Hall. Despite their eagerness to eat, it had taken a few minutes for James, Sirius and Peter to gather the strength to exit the bathroom. They'd been unconscious for most of the morning, and made it back to their dorm around two in the afternoon, at which point Peter had curled up in a pile of blankets. James and Sirius spent the afternoon sprawled on their beds, having a slurred conversation about Quidditch. Remus sat on the floor between them with a book, not listening, but just enjoying the company of his friends. At some point, Peter had moved his blankets to make a little nest on the floor by the other three.

"I'm sorry, Moony," he'd muttered.

Remus had found it impossible to stay angry with his childlike friend, and had graciously accepted the apology.

Now, Peter was piling his plate high with any kind of cheese he could find, which wasn't unusual. He gave a startled squeak as Lily Evans appeared behind him.

"We know you three lied to Remus this morning." She was standing with her hand on her hips, glaring at James.

Alice was a perfect mirror image of her posture. "Where were you?"

James was at a loss for words. Lying to the girl he hoped to date and one of his best friends was different from lying to a professor, which he could do without a second thought.

It was Sirius who responded snidely. "I don't see how our whereabouts are any of your business."

"They are when you lie to our friend," Lily fixed him with her glare.

Remus looked up from his plate and mumbled, "it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"It is not fine," Lily turned to him with a softer expression. "Why do you put up with them-"

"Why don't you mind your own business for once?" Remus snapped.

Lily looked as if she'd been slapped. "Fine. I was just trying to help you, but if you want to be like that…" She turned on her heel and stormed to the other end of the table.

Alice made to follow her, but she threw a glance back at James. "I'll talk to you later."

Sirius turned to Remus in surprise. "I thought you weren't ok with…" he threw a glance around the crowded room, "you-know-what. Why are you still defending us?"

Remus sighed, as if he'd never been asked a more stupid question. "Because you're my best friends. And you always will be, no matter what crazy stuff you do."

"Good." James interjected. "Because we do a lot of crazy stuff."

"Don't I know it," Remus chuckled. But the smile left his face when he saw a familiar figure wave him over. "I'm feeling a little tired. I think I'll go back to the dorm now."

" _You're_ tired?" James asked in surprise, but he didn't protest as Remus left the table and exited the Great Hall.

"What do you want?" Remus asked the hook-nosed figure he faced. He wouldn't normally have responded to a summon from Snape, but the knowing grin that the Slytherin had given him was more than enough to put him on edge after today's events.

Snape smirked at him. "Well, it seems that your not-so-perfect friends are up to something. And this time it's so bad that even you, Remus Lupin, the mastermind behind all their schemes, don't want them to do it. I wonder why… could it be illegal? Dangerous? Oh, don't tell me it's _both_." Snape's grin widened with every word, like a miner who'd hit the world's biggest gold vein.

Remus stared at him, blankly. "If you think you're getting anything out of me, you're mistaken."

Snape shrugged. "I thought as much. You do seem to have an unwarranted sense of loyalty towards them. What was it you said to me in third year? 'James, Sirius and Peter would never lie to me. They're my best friends, much better than any Slytherins.'" Snape cackled. "Oh, how the tables have turned. Now who's lying? But who are you going to side with now, _Moony_?" He uttered the nickname with scorn.

"I'll side with those who are loyal to me. Not evil, deceitful creatures," Remus retorted.

"Oh, really? Because I always thought that Lily was a loyal friend to you, yet you turned her away for the ones who deceived you." Snape's eyes glittered.

"You don't know anything about this, or about me." Remus glared at him, then began to turn away.

"I know enough," Snape called after him. "I saw you running down the corridors like a lunatic earlier, yelling for your so-called friends. And I heard your conversation with Lily. And, rest assured, I will find out what's going on with you four. And when I do, I won't be merciful."


	10. 10: The First Signs

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

 **Chapter 10 (actually chapter 10 this time , last time was a typo)**

The Great Hall bustled with the clanging of cutlery and the chatter of hundreds of teenagers. The four long tables were lavishly laid with food of all kinds as candles floated in the air. By far the noisiest of the tables was Gryffindor, and a large portion of that noise could be traced to two black-haired, sodden-clothed boys.

James and Sirius debated loudly about their Quidditch practice that had taken place that afternoon as they replenished their energy by shoving as much food into their faces as humanly possible.

Remus, who didn't know or care about anything to do with Quidditch, tried to catch Peter's eye, but the round-faced boy was listening to Sirius and James, rapt with awe like normal, as he tried to nod in the right places and look like he understood and nibbled quietly on a peice of cheese. The werewolf sighed and went back to focusing on his dinner when Sirius nudged his arm.

Remus felt a slight shiver pass though his body, but he ignored it and turned to his friend.

"Moony. You seem to have got the hang of that charm we learned this morning," Sirius said.

"Well, I guess I've kind of got it. I need to practice loads more, though," Remus reasoned.

Sirius almost scoffed at the suggestion. He couldn't remember a time when Remus hadn't mastered a charm on his first attempt. "Well, Hallowe'en is coming up, and you know that's always a good time for-"

"Sirius." Snapped a familiar strict voice behind him. McGonnagal, despite hardly ever calling other students by their first names, normally respected Sirius' wish for his surname to be used as little as possible. "I do hope you're not planning another prank."

Peter jumped, startled by the loud voice, and looked like he very much wanted to hide under the table.

Sirius bowed his head submissively, a gesture that Remus hadn't seen from him before. "Of course not," he said in his innocent voice which everyone listening knew was as fake as the Daily Prophet. "I would never do anything so disruptive or hilarious- I mean irresponsible."

McGonnagal pursed her lips, as if she didn't know whether to humour Sirius or just dispair of him. "If you try anything, Mr Filch will be sure to catch you, since he'll be patrolling outside the Gryffindor dorms from curfew to midnight between now and Hallowe'en."

"She's setting Filch on us? That's harsh, even for her." Sirius whimpered as McGonnagal strode away, her shoes clacking on the stone floor.

"Yeah, she's our head of house. She should be on our side, at least against Filch." James agreed.

Remus sighed in exasperation. "You two. Seriously. She said Filch will be patrolling _from curfew to_ _midnight._ All we need to do is avoid that time window, and we'll be fine."

"So she is on our side against Filch," James realised, happily.

"Moony, you're a genius," Sirius exclaimed.

"You're only saying that because you didn't figure it out yourself," Remus muttered, but he realised that he was blushing anyway.

Nobody noticed, though, because the dessert had started to appear.

Sirius instantly dived for the chocolate cake - every dinner time, without fail, he and James would fight over it. Today, however, James didn't seem interested at all. He reached instead for the salad.

"James, what are you doing?" Peter was the first to notice the change as his friend piled a mountain of leaves onto his plate.

"Uh... I'm eating," James replied, as if nothing was abnormal.

"Yes, but _what_ are you eating?" Sirius interjected, disgusted at the amount of healthy food his friend was about to consume.

"I just felt like having some salad. Is there a problem with that?" He put some of the leaves into his mouth and began to eat. He didn't chew so much as grind his teeth together like some kind of-

"Herbivore," Remus whispered to himself as he realised.

"Ok, so I was totally planning a prank yesterday," Sirius told his friends while they sat outside under a tree the next day. The ground was still damp after yesterday's downpour and the chilly autumn weather was starting, but the Marauders loved to sit outdoors. At least, James and Sirius did. Remus Looked as if he wished he was in the warm library with a dust-covered book.

"We know." Remus glanced up from his transfiguration textbook to look levelly at Sirius. "Everyone whobwas in the Great Hall knows."

Sirius ignored him. "So, I was thinking we should use the movement charms we've been learning recently. Moony's good enough at those. But I've got big plans. Huge plans. It's go big or go home this year, so I think we'll need some help from-"

James had been lying back lazily against the tree trunk, but he sat up suddenly. "Look over there," He muttered, coldly. The sudden change in his posture was enough to set off alarm bells in Sirius' head and make him stop talking, his head snapping quickly around to follow James' gaze.

"Snivellus." Sirius muttered, as he saw the greasy-haired figure. Anger flared in his chest as a low growl emanated from the back of his throat.

Remus recognised it. It was the sound a wolf would make if they saw an enemy. Someone they might attack. It was normally a way of telling another wolf to back off, but now it served as a warning for Remus. "Sirius, don't," he pleaded, grabbing the arm of Sirius' cloak.

Sirius relaxed a little, the tension visibly leaving his shoulders. "I wasn't going to do anything to him," he said, leaning back against the tree.

"What was that growl for? You sounded like some kind of wolf." James said, also calming down.

Sirius shrugged. "I was just angry."

"Maybe not a wolf," Remus wondered quietly, "but some kind of dog? An animal like that."

"What was that, Moony?" James asked.

"He didn't sound exactly like a wolf. Trust me, I know." Remus hesitated before plowing on. "I think I know what's happening."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, his voice tinted with worry.

"Something's happening to all of you. Your behaviour is changing, your actions, your tendencies. Surely you've noticed. You're becoming more... animalistic."

"What does that mean?" Peter yelped, though he could guess.

Sirius and James, however, looked at each other with glee.

"The animagus potion."

"It's working." Sirius grinned.

"Exactly." Remus said. "I read about this. Each of you will develop the characteristics of the animal you will turn into."

"Sweet!" James yelled. "I hope I'm something cool, like a lion or a dragon!"

Remus smirked a little. "I hate to break it to you, but you were eating salad for dessert yesterday. You'll probably be some kind of herbivore."

"Like a sheep," Sirius put in, laughing at the mental image.

James glared at him, but then saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him forget all about what Sirius had said. "Snivellus. He's going near the Whomping Willow."

"It's probably nothing" Remus began, but Snape had noticed James and Sirius glaring.

"What are you looking at? Potter? Black?" He yelled. "Not too busy playing with your pets today?"

Peter made a noise like pigmepuff that had been stepped on and dived behind the tree.

Sirius snarled, curling his lips back aggressively until Remus nudged him.

"Don't let him see you do that," Remus muttered. He hadn't told the Marauders about what Snape had said to him, and he didn't plan to.

"Should we go and mess him up?" James asked Sirius without looking at him.

Without even the need for eye contact, the two dark-haired Marauders were on their feet with their wands drawn, marching towards Snape. Snape seemed to have got the message, and was already pointing his wand at James.

"Stupefy!"

James only just managed to dive out of the way as the spell sailed past him.

"Incendio!" Sirius countered.

"Protego!" Snape yelled, throwing the magical shield up just in time to stop his robes from being set alight.

James readied another spell, but Snape noticed too soon. "Expelliarmus!"

The wand flew out of James' hand, landing uselessly on the grass meters away. He barely hesitated before charging at Snape armed with nothing but his bare hands. He headbutted Snape in the chest, knocking the other boy to the ground. Snape fired a stray blast from his wand, which caught Sirius square in the chest, knocking him back and caused him to let out a whimper.

Remus, who had been sitting watching the fight until then, rushed forward to Sirius.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Sirius waved away his concern. He stood up, and Remus saw that he wasn't injured; the blast had just knocked the wind out of him.

"Snape! Potter!" McGonnagal strode across the grass and pulled the boys apart, who had resorted to brawling on the floor. She hauled them to their feet and began reprimanding them about setting an example for first years and responsible behaviour, ignoring James comment that he had the responsibility to put slimy gits in their place, and Snape's remarks about first years being better off if they knew how to deal with arrogant pricks.

"You really did sound like a dog just then," Remus told Sirius, unable to keep the fondness out of his voice.

Sirius smirked. "I hope I didn't say anything embarrassing in wolf language."

Remus grimaced. "That's... not exactly how wolf communication works. Merlin, you all have so much to learn about transformation."

"Does this mean you're not mad anymore?" Sirius asked, hopefully.

Remus hesitated. "I... I'm still annoyed. But it's been over a week now. I can never stay mad at you guys for long. Besides, there's no going back now." He sighed. "I suppose the best thing I can do is to make sure you don't get hurt doing it."

Then his face brightened mischievously. "Now, about this prank you mentioned..."


	11. 11: Ghosts in knight’s clothing

In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?

 **Chapter 11**

When the Marauders went down to breakfast a few days before Hallowe'en, Sirius stayed lying in bed, telling the others he was tired and not hungry. How they'd believed the latter statement, he wasn't sure, but it had worked.

Alone in the dorm for the first time in days, he'd immediately gone to the floorboard they'd dislodged years earlier, and eased the Marauders' Map from under it.

The map was strictly meant to belong to all of them, but Remus had worked harder than anyone else to get it working almost to perfection. He was immensely proud of his work, and hardly ever let anyone else touch the map.

"Nick!" Sirius called a few minutes later, dashing down the corridor as he caught sight of the ghostly figure.

Nearly Headless Nick turned, looking forlornly at Sirius. "Oh, Sirius. Have you got more bad news for me?" He said, dully.

"Get rejected from the hunt again?" Sirius asked, already knowing the answer. Every year, Nick asked to join the famous Headless Hunt. And every year, he got rejected on the grounds of having a small strip of skin attaching his head to his neck. "They don't know what they're missing. I keep telling you, there must be others like you, why not start your own Nearly Headless Hunt?"

Nick didn't quite smile, but his shoulders became significantly less slumped. "Thank you, that thought does give me some comfort."

Sirius grinned mischievously, "and I think I've got something that'll cheer you up even more. How would you like to give us a hand with our prank tomorrow evening?"

Nick's eyes glittered. "My dear Gryffindor, I thought you'd never ask."

As Nick floated away, having heard the details of Sirius' plan, the other Marauders came crashing down the corridor towards their friend.

"Sirius!" James yelled. "Sorry," he added to a suit of armour he'd knocked into. "Mate, was that Nick? Why were you talking to him?"

"I just needed Nick to give us some help with my master plan."

"By the way, mate, it's Hallowe'en tomorrow. Are you going to tell us what this plan is?" James asked.

Sirius grinned with glee. "I'm glad you asked. Prepare to be amazed by the magnificent creativity of the one and only Sirius Orion Black."

The other Marauders looked at him blankly.

Sirius ignored their bored expressions and ploughed on. "Remember that legend that, every year at Hallowe'en, the largest suit of armour in Hogwarts comes to life and starts roaming around the castle, hungry for the blood of young witches and wizards?"

The Marauders nodded. They were all familiar with the legend about the suit of armour in the entrance hall, which had existed since before they were at Hogwarts. Of course, they'd done their best to keep the myth alive, mainly by adding more sinister details every time they retold it to gullible second-years and making clanging noises in the common room every Hallowe'en night until Lily came down to stop them (though she never told the frightened first-years what the real cause of the noises was).

"Nick has agreed to possess that suit of armour and walk into the great hall in the middle of the feast!" Sirius continued.

"Perfect!" James yelled suddenly, earning a strange look from some Ravemclaw girls who were walking past.

"And that's not all," said Sirius, "he's gone to find as many ghosts as he can to possess the rest of the suit of armour, and pumpkins and fake skeletons. Just for some extra effect."

"So... no charms this year?" Remus asked, his voice tinged with disappointment.

"Of course there will be," Sirius reassured him. "It wouldn't be a Marauders prank with our own touch. We'll need some pretty advanced levitation charms, if you're up to it..."

Remus grinned determinedly. "You're asking me to put my sixth-year charms knowledge to practical use? Always." He paused thoughtfully. "Although, I think I'd require a few bars of Honeyduke's finest chocolate. Just to keep me going."

After their lessons that day, the Marauders spent the evening working on the levitation charms which would cause objects to follow a certain pre-set path. Finally, after curfew, they snuck down to the kitchens to place levitation charms on all of the plates and goblets.

"Hold on, I'll get the map," Remus said, rushing to the loose floorboard as the Marauders prepared to leave their dorm.

"Oh," Sirius said. He'd completely forgotten that he'd put the map in his bag the day before. Now, there was no way out. "Moony... it won't be in there. I had to use it to find Nick, so it'll be in my bag."

"You took the map and used it, and you didn't tell me?" Remus eyed Sirius icily as he rummaged through his bag for the map.

"It... it's not in here," Sirius realised after a minute.

"What?!" Remus yelled. Thankfully, even his shout was kind of soft, or he would have woken up everyone in Gryffindor.

"We'll just have to do without," James said, quickly. "It would probably be detrimental to our plan if you killed Sirius right now," he added to Remus.

They carefully avoided Filch, who was prowling around near the kitchens with his new kitten, Mrs Norris, and made it to the cutlery which had been set out by the House Elves ready for departure at the feast the next evening.

"We'll have to make sure they don't spill a the foid everywhere. The House Elves have worked so hard in this and I don't want to ruin the feast." Remus told the others, as he began carefully applying the charms.

"Why are you so sympathetic towards them, Moony?" Sirius asked. "All the House Elves I know are right little-"

"Sirius, have you seen the conditions they live in? They're practically slaves, they just have to do what their masters tell them." Remus implored.

Sirius absent-mindedly touched his forearm where he knew the burn scars were, and remembered his family's House Elves' glee as they put them there. For once, he doubted whether Remus was right.

Walking down the corridor on the way back, the four heard footsteps behind them. Without the map, they had much less time to react, and only just managed to duck behind a statue, with Peter covered by a hastily donned invisibility cloak.

But Sirius blew their cover immediately when he saw the faces of the two figures approaching them. "Reg? What are you doing up this late?"

"Nothing," Regulus Black said quickly as he skillfully hid a letter inside his robes. If Sirius hadn't spent years keeping secrets with Regulus, he wouldn't have noticed it. "Are you setting up for the prank this evening?"

Sirius grinned. "Prank? I don't know what you mean, little brother. We're just standing innocently in the corridors, causing absolutely no mischief."

"That's a lie if I ever heard one," said the boy standing next to Regulus. It was easy not to notice him if he didn't speak. He stood completely still, only flicking his eyes quickly from side to side. Despite being the son of a rich, well-respected ministry official, Barty Crouch junior always looked somewhat shabby and worn.

Regulus smiled knowingly at Sirius. "Well, if you were setting up for a prank, we'd be looking forward to it."

Barty nudged Regulus, who began to follow him down the corridor past the Marauders. "It had better be good," Barty muttered to them. He smiled, but there was always something unnerving about Barty's smile.

"That kid gives me the shivers," James muttered, once the two third-years were out of earshot. "I don't know how Regulus stands him."

Sirius shrugged. "They've been best friends since first year, Reg doesn't really have anyone else in Slytherin. Come on, we should get back to the dorm before Filch finds us."

"...and the Forbidden Forest is, of course, Forbidden. Now, all that's left for me to say is, Happy Hallowe'en and enjoy the feast!" At that, the headmaster sat down and the Great Hall seemed to awaken after his long, boring speech. Chatter was rife, and the tables were suddenly piled high with Hallowe'en-themed dishes.

As the students picked up their knives and forks, and prepared to tuck in, Sirius leaned closer to Remus and whispered, "I think it's time."

Remus nodded, and flicked his wand discreetly under the table. Suddenly, every plate, bowl and spoon began to rise into the air, with full goblets sloshing haphazardly as they ascended. The crockery began to zip about after they reached a few meters in the air, out of the way of anyone's heads (apart from Hagrid, who Remus hadn't accounted for and therefore the large man was hit on the head by a goblet of wine which he proceeded to grab from the air and drink heartily). The commotion caused yells and shrieks to erupt from the students, who grabbed desperately for their floating crockery, some of which were already piled with their dinner.

It was, somewhat surprisingly, a group of Hufflepuffs who first took advantage of the commotion and began to pelt their friends with food. One of them ducked, causing a Ravenclaw to get hit on the head by a roast potato. The table of normally well-behaved students responded with a ferocity worthy of Gryffindor, and soon the hall was filled with flying food and shrieks of laughter.

Just as the students were getting into the fun, the doors slammed open. The entire Great Hall fell silent as they heard the

 _Clang clang clang_

 _Creek creek_

 _Clang clang_

The largest suit of armour in Hogwarts, stark black as night with blood-red cuffs and stripes, stomped mechanically across the floor. "STUDENTS OF HOGWARTS!" His voiced boomed through the room.

Several students screamed and ran for the doors, only to be met by a hoard of shiny metal knights and plastic skeletons.

"Who goes there?" Bellowed one of the knights.

"Just where do you think you're going, huh-huh?" A skeleton giggled.

The students scrambled back to their tables as the troupe of almost forty posessed objects entered the room.

"TREMBLE BEFORE ME AND MY FOLLOWERS! COWER IN OUR WAKE! HEED OUR GLORY!" The dark knight bellowed. Students clung to each other, whimpering.

"Wow, he's really good at this," Sirius observed. Remus, who had half forgotten it was just a prank, released his frightened grip on Sirius' sleeve. "Yeah, he sure is convincing."

"HEAR MY WORDS, MORTALS..."

The students waited with baited breath.

"HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!" Nick shot out of the top of the knight's head, his own head lolling over his shoulder until he shrugged and it bounced back into place. He grinned the widest grin any of the Hogwarts students had seen,

A ripple of nervous laughter ran through the room as more and more of the ghosts jumped out of their objects, pulling funny faces and striking ridiculous poses to set the students at ease. Soon, everyone had recovered and they were all busy laughing at how scared their friends had been and ignoring the fact that several of them would need to change their robes.

Nick seemed to be giving some sort of speech about who he'd like to thank after his performance. "And of course," he said, tearfully, "I never could have done this without the help and support of the Marauders. Bravo, lads. Bravo!"

And with that, the Marauders were scooped up into the throng, with students congratulating them. Even the Slytherins were enjoying laughing at how the Hufflepuffs had squealed.

Peter had rarely had so much attention in his life, and he was basking in it. For once, people crowded around him without the intention of tormenting him; they spoke to him like he was an actual person, not just James' lackey. Everything was perfect until he saw a familiar face in the crowd.

Peter's heart stopped. He couldn't breathe.

 _No. No, this can't be._

But he knew that it could, and it was happening.

She turned her face towards him, and smiled sadly, then floated through the wall.

Peter pushed past the other students and raced into the corridor after her. There she was, standing still. Not smiling. Not talking. Just looking at him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice choked.

She shrugged. The light, playful shrug of a child, though her face remained impassive. She was exactly the same as the last time Peter had seen her; long blond hair the same shade as his, a round innocent face with small features that could one day grow to fif it and she would look like a splendid young lady. Except that would never happen now.

"Are you... are you here to see me?" Peter asked her.

The ghost girl didn't move this time, though her angelic face lit up a little.

"Why? Do you want to tell me something?"

No response.

"Do you want me to avenge you?" There was unbreakable steel in Peter's voice as he looked upon the form of what he had lost.

She didn't respond, instead she began to shimmer. Only at the edges at first, but after a few seconds her body was barely visible. Peter ran forwards, desperate to hold her in his arms one last time, but he only grasped empty air.

"Peter?" He heard a voice behind him as he knuckled his eyes. He turned to see Paisley, the eldest of his two young sisters, standing behind him.

"Paisley? Did you see..." he trailed off, knowing he shouldn't tell he about what had happened.

"See what?" She asked, but she didn't wait for an answer. "I just wanted to say that... the prank was ok I guess. I... some people seemed to enjoy it."

"Thank you," Peter said as she turned back into the hall.

 _Do you want me to avenge you?_

Peter hadn't thought about it much before, but he knew who was responsible for his sister's death. The determination in his own voice had surprised him. Would she want that? Why hadn't she said anything? He leaned back against the wall, and let his tears fall for the first time since that awful day.

 **Heya, Nox here!**

 **If you've made it to the end of this, well done and thanks. This has got to be one of the longest chapters I've ever written. Sorry for not updating for a while, but I'm glad I took the time to make this chapter as good as I could. Next chapter should be up in the next few days**


	12. 12: Reveal your secrets

"Reveal your secrets." Severus Snape tapped the parchment with his wand.

Nothing.

He sighed in frustration, then tried again. "Show me your secrets."

Still nothing.

"Reveal your secrets, by order of the Half-Blood Prince!" He snapped.

Of course it hadn't worked, but at least the last sentence had been fun to say. The Half-Blood Prince. Not born into immense riches like Potter, or heir of one of the most noble wizarding families like Black, but Snape was no less noble than them. No less powerful. Yes, he was better than those pesky Marauders. Even without everything handed to him from the day he was born, he knew he was, at heart, better than them.

That was why it was so important to him that he revealed the secrets of this parchment.

In potions, the day before Hallowe'en, Sirius had reached to take his textbook out of his bag, only to remove the parchment with it. Quickly, he'd stuffed the parchment back into his bag, glancing around panicked to check if anyone had seen him.

And Snape had seen. But Sirius didn't notice. So, when the bag was left unattended, Snape had quickly taken the parchment. And now here he sat, alone in the Slytherin common room while everyone else slept, trying to find out its secrets.

 _Creeek_

The common room door opened slowly, as a small figure slipped quietly into the room. Snape quickly hid the parchment in his robes.

He watched as Regulus Black snuck quickly through the otherwise deserted common room, but didn't say anything. Why should he? He didn't care where the young boy was going. Regulus snuck out most nights.

"What do you want?" Asked a little voice from the shadows.

Sirius looked through the gloomy corridor at his brother. "Nice to see you too," he said, sarcastically.

Regulus rolled his eyes, but then looked a little sadly at Sirius. "I miss you when we're at school," he said, quietly. "I hardly get to see you."

Sirius stood surprised for moment; he hadn't expected Regulus to open immediately with that. "I... miss you too. I'm sorry."

Regulus shrugged. "So, why did you want to talk to me?"

Sirius hesitated. He so rarely spoke to his brother at Hogwarts. Most of their conversations for the past few years had been whispered at their home while they hid from their parents, prolonging inevitable punishment. He was reluctant to ruin the first normal moment they'd had in a long time by saying what the purpose of the conversation actually was. "On Hallowe'en when I was setting up for the prank, where had you been?"

Regulus shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "None of your business. It wasn't anything important."

"I saw you with a letter," Sirius persisted. "Who was it from?"

Regulus shrugged. "Why does it matter?"

Sirius looked directly at his brother. "Was it from our mother?"

Regulus shook his head.

Sirius took a deep breath, then asked the question he'd been dreading. "...Bellatrix?"

Any doubt that Sirius had previously had was immediately squandered by Regulus' expression. The smaller boy looked away from his brother, hands in his pockets.

"Reg, why has she been writing to you?" Sirius looked at his brother with concern, bur Regulus glared back at him with defiance.

"Why shouldn't she? Bella's our cousin, Sirius. She's just being nice, I can talk to her about stuff. Is it really a problem if someone in my family actually cares about me?" His tone wavered between anger and pleading, but the bitterness was clear in the last few words.

Sirius stared in shock after the outburst from his normally quiet brother, but after a moment he spoke, the hurt that he tried to conceal slipping into his voice very slightly. "Why her? You can talk to me about anything if you need to, you know that Reg."

Regulus didn't seem to notice the hurt in Sirius' voice. "Why don't you like her? She practically raised us, Sirius. When our mother and father were always too busy for us, Bella was always there. She played with us, taught us to read. I know people say bad things about her, but she's always been kind to us."

"She sent me a howler a few weeks ago." Sirius told him.

Regulus looked helpless for a moment, then he shrugged. "She was upset. She told me that she feels like you don't want to be part of our family anymore."

"Well, that's true enough." Sirius admitted. "But you don't either. I know you're not happy at home."

"I'm happy when I talk to Bella," Regulus said. "And to you. It used to just be the three of us, and sometimes Cissy. Why can't it be like that anymore? Why do you want everything to change?"

Sirius sighed, leaning heavily on the cold stone wall. "I don't." He finally said, quietly. "I wish more than anything that we could just go back to those days. But we can't. Bella's changed. I miss her so... so much, but she's not the same person who tucked us into bed and sang us to sleep. All she talks about is killing mudbl- muggle-borns. And the way she talks about the Dark Lord..."

"But she still cares about us!" Regulus protested. "She's still our Bella!"

"Do you really think that she wouldn't turn her back on you if you showed the slightest bit of dissent, the way she disowned her own sister?" Sirius snapped. He immediately felt bad; Regulus looked like he had been hit, sniffing with his face turned towards the ground.

"So... this is about Andromeda." Regulus said, his voice betraying no emotions.

"No. Well..." Sirius paused. Was it about Andromeda? She had always been his favourite cousin. Level-headed and kind-hearted, she was as rare as a diamond in a family like the House of Black. Andromeda had always stood up for what she believed in, and that included defending her little cousins. When Andromeda had been disowned, erased from the family tree, it had put a strain on Sirius relationship with his entire family, but especially with Bellatrix.

"We can't see Andromeda anymore," Regulus said quietly. "She stood up for us, but now she's gone. Everything is changing, everyone's turning away from us. I don't want to lose Bella too."

Cast in the dim light of the flickering torches in the vast corridor with his dark hair hanging over his face, Regulus looked so much younger than he really was, and Sirius felt a protective urge towards his little brother.

"Reg..." he muttered, gently, and he slowly reached out towards Regulus. Knowing that Regulus normally hated to be touched without warning, Sirius kept his hand hovering in the air by his brothers shoulder, hoping the gesture would be enough.

But Regulus walked gratefully into Sirius' arms, nestling his head against his older brothers shoulder.

"I'm here for you, Reg," Sirius whispered. "No matter what."

"Where have you been?" Remus asked, as Sirius entered the dorm a few minutes later. He spoke quietly, since Peter and James were both asleep.

"I went to talk to Regulus." Sirius told him, sitting down on his bed, which was next to Remus'.

"Still no sign of the map?" Remus asked, forlornly.

"Well, I wasn't really looking for it," Sirius reasoned. "But no, still no sign. But don't worry, we'll find it. It's only been missing for a fortnight, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Reveal!"

Snape tried desperately one last time.

No. This would never work. He'd have to resort to more desperate measures.


End file.
